Peanuts in High School
by Robin Purdy
Summary: What would the Peanuts be like as teenagers? Raging hormones, stupid siblings, slippery relationships... CB/PP, Sally/Linus, Lucy/Schroeder, etc. Includes the rest of the gang too! Rated T for mild use of drugs and alcohol (and a few make-out scenes). Has Snoopy & Woodstock!
1. Charlie Brown

**This story is set when Charlie Brown is seventeen years old (roughly ten years older than he is in the comics). I do not own Peanuts or any of the characters... I just like writing with them.**

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><p><em><strong>Charlie Brown<strong>_

_Why is it always me? _I thought as I tried to pick my spilled lunch tray off the floor. But every time I tried to get up, I would somehow fall back down again. I could feel everyone's eyes on me, hear their laughter, see my hands tremble as I put my chocolate milk carton back onto my tray.

I knew my sister, Sally, was looking at me, probably embarrassed beyond belief to have a brother like me. The klutz, the buffoon.

"Here," Linus said, helping me back up on my unsteady feet. He took my tray and threw it in the garbage and pulled me out of the cafeteria.

"I don't know how you do it," he sighed, shaking his head solemnly, "but you seem to always find an opportunity to make a fool out of yourself."

My face grew hotter as he said it. I knew it was true, but having my own friend say it made me feel worse. I tried to not look at him as we walked to our next class, which was math.

Although Linus was two years younger than me, he had skipped fifth and eighth grade, getting him into the same grade as me, plus taking all the advanced classes. I sometimes got jealous at his intelligence. Not only was he smart, he was kind of handsome too, considering he was a geek. He was better lookin than me, at least. He was tall and lanky, and had dark chocolate brown hair that matched his large eyes. He was paler than usual, and I didn't know why; he had also seemed a bit more quiet, especially when Sally was near. I had considered the idea of him liking her, and it made me uncomfortable, so I pushed it to the darkest unoccupied corner in my head, and would forget it until I would see them together again...

I didn't blame him for liking her. If she wasn't my sister, _I_ might have even fallen for her. She was perfect in every way, and I don't just say that because she's my sister. She had long, golden, hair that fell in soft curls around her face, and eyes even more blue than the sky. Her cheeks were so pink and rosy that the most beautiful rose in the world would be jealous of them. She wasn't too tall, but she wasn't short either. She looked best in her favourite blue dress with a silk purple ribbon tied neatly around her waist. But if Linus really did like her, he would have to wait, because she was currently going out with Franklin. And nobody in their right mind tried to pick up Franklin's girl.

Linus and I talked about the latest football game as we waited for the bell to finish lunch to ring. Thankfully, math, english, and history were all klutz-free, and by the end of the day I started to feel less embarrassed about the fiasco at lunch.

When the bell rang for school to get out, I walked to my locker as fast as I could, wanting to get home before I'd trip or do something stupid like that.

"Hey Chuck," someone from behind me said, tapping my shoulder and stopping me in my tracks.

"Hi Peppermint Patty," I said, not even bothering to look. She was the only one in the whole world who called me "Chuck".

"I told you to stop adding 'Peppermint'. It was ok when we were kids, but I don't like it that much anymore."

I nodded to show that I understood and turned to go, when she tapped on my shoulder again.

"Chuck, are you free tonight? I was wondering if you wanted to-"

I interrupted her. "I have homework tonight that I need to do." I was lying, I actually had no homework at all, I just didn't want to spend five hours playing ball with Peppermint Patty and keep messing up and have her laugh at me. I had had enough laughing at me for one day.

"But-"

"It's a really big assignment, and I really need to do it-"

"You can do it on Saturday." She said with finality. There was no use veering her away from her idea now. "I was thinking we could go out to eat tonight."

I swung to look at her fully. It had been the first time I had really talked to her face to face in a while. I hadn't really talked to anyone face-to-face in a while, scared that they might see my face full of acne. But Peppermint Patty had changed. She was wearing her usual team shirt and sweatpants, but her face was completely different. For the first time in her life, I think, she was wearing _makeup. _I had to do a double-take to make sure it wasn't a trick of the light.

Her copper-brown hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, and she seemed to be growing out her bangs. She had finally gotten her braces taken off, and she had applied some bubble-gum pink lipstick. I noticed that her face seemed a bit less frightening and a lot more softer. And for some strange, unforeseen reason, a sudden lurch came from the pit of my stomach and the words stumbled out before I could think them through.

"Sure, that'd be great."

She smiled brightly and turned away, saying, "Joe's Diner. Six. Don't be late."

I turned automatically towards Linus, who had walked in only a second ago and had been watching this whole line of events with his mouth slightly open. I couldn't blame him, I was still trying to decipher what had happened myself.

Linus was the first to come back to his senses. "You...? Her...? Oh my."

"Tell me about it." That was all I could say. I opened my locker, grabbed my backpack, and left the school in a daze. I never got asked out. The revelation that I had been asked out made my head spin. I didn't even realize Sally had come up and started to talk to me until she punched my shoulder.

"Charlie! Did you even hear what I've been saying? Do you even know where you're going? We're five blocks away from home."

I looked around at our surroundings. It was true. I had been walking in the wrong direction since I left school. "Sorry," I mumbled, and turned in the right direction.

"Are you ok? You've been acting strangely ever since school got out. Is it the thing at lunch?"

"What? Oh, no. It's just that Patty asked me to meet her at Joe's tonight."

Sally stopped dead, her mouth sagging low. "She did? Charlie, do you know what this _means_?"

"Erm... She likes burgers?"

She rolled her eyes. "My brother, the dumb one. No, stupid. She just asked you out. This is serious. This is like, your first date ever. You need advice right now." She grabbed my elbow before I could stop her, and she pulled me away from our street.

"Where are we going...?" I asked.

"To the flower store. She'll love them, believe me. What time is the date anyway?"

"Six."

"Ok. I think I'll be able to give you a few tips... but we'll need to hurry."


	2. Peppermint Patty

_Peppermint Patty_

I felt a sharp burn on my ear as Marcie's hand slipped with the curling iron.

"Oop... Sorry," she said apologetically.

"It's fine," I sighed. I splashed cold water on it and went back into my sitting position. "Just keep curling, I'm on a tight schedule."

"So," Marcie said as she started to curl my bangs. "Who's the lucky guy?"

I shrugged. "Chuck. I asked him today and he said sure. Nothing that serious." What I didn't say was that I was madly in love with him.

Ever since I met him, I knew he was the one. I don't know why. He wasn't like Franklin, who was the super jock, or like Schroeder, who was a child prodigy when he was four. He wasn't even that smart, like Linus. Maybe it was because he accepted me for who I was, and I respected that. I also found it kind of sexy.

He was a bit of a looker, too, if you paid a little attention. He was the perfect size, not fat or skinny, tall or short. His head had turned a bit more into an actual head shape, not like the beach ball it used to be. His blonde hair had grown out too; it fell down around his ears, and it reminded me of a spider's web that was made to fall down from his head like hair. His eyes matched his sister's... blue as my mother's topaz wedding ring. He was a bit bizarre, but I liked him just the same.

I hoped that this relationship would work out.

Marcie was unusually quiet. She typically jabbered on about some new science discovery or how poorly some physicist wrote an essay. Finally, she said, "Ok, take a look." and she spun me around to look in the mirror.

It had been a long time since I had my hair curled, and I was surprised at how elegantly it fell around my shoulders and my bangs looped just enough to cover that horrible looking zit on my forehead. I looked up at Marcie, who was still trying to make a few adjustments on the stray hairs around my ears. She had chestnut hair that fell to her shoulders, and a matching bracelet on her right wrist. Brown was like, her favourite colour, probably because it was the same colour as trees. Her glasses had tiger stripes along the sides, and her eyes seem magnified underneath the lenses. They were greener than usual, for her lime green "Save the Rainforest" t-shirt really brought out the color. She looked a bit sad, or maybe even confused, but I couldn't tell why.

"Well, have a nice time," she said as I grabbed the keys to my house and my leather wallet. "Tell me all about it when you get home."

"Ok,"I said, and I dashed out the front door, and I tried to keep from skipping to Joe's Diner. I couldn't help but be excited to see Chuck.

When I got there, I saw Chuck sitting at the counter, muttering something under his breath, eyes screwed up, tapping the counter vigorously on the pink marble countertop, as if he was trying to memorize or remember something. I quickly stepped into my "Sir" self. That was what Marcie called it. It was whenever I would take charge and act so much like a General that Marcie would get intimidated and accidentally call me sir. But that was when we were kids, and I haven't acted like that since I was twelve.

"Hey Chuck," I said. The sound of my voice made him jump and spill a cup of soda over the counter.

"Er... Y-you look... erm... really nice," he stuttered as he tried to wipe up the mess with some napkins.

"Thanks," I said. He blushed a coral red color and gestured for me to sit down next to him. "So, what do you want?"

"Erm..." he blushed an even deeper shade of crimson. "I didn't know... that um..."

"I mean to eat," I said. I didn't mean to sound so demanding or rude, but once I became my "Sir" self, it was hard to stop.

"Oh! Uh, I'll have a burger and fries," he said to the man behind the counter.

"Make that two," I replied.

The man nodded and went into the kitchen to fill our order.

"Um... What's been going on with you lately?" he said, an obvious attempt at conversation.

"Nothing much. I can't believe our baseball team didn't get to the playoffs this year."

"Yeah, I know. I erm... am glad that Northcrest won. They sure earned it."

"I guess so," I shrugged. "So what's new with you? Anything interesting?"

He shrugged and looked down at his sneakers. "Nothing interesting ever happens to me," he mumbled.

"Hey," I said. He looked up. "We can make something interesting happen."

"Erm..." he looked uncomfortable, and he glanced around the room nervously. I was wondering what was making him act so strangely, and then I realized my mistake.

"By interesting, I mean like try out a new sport or something," I quickly added. He sighed with relief.

"Yeah sure."

By the end of the meal, both of us had given up attempting at conversation. I absently chewed on my last french fry. Chuck had tried to look at anything except me. Finally, I got up.

"Ready to go?" I asked. I didn't like how the dinner had gone; I had fantasized about us joking around and laughing like we used to. I missed our old conversations. We had seemed so carefree...

"Yeah," Chuck said getting up from his seat. There was a bouquet of daisies laying next to him. He saw me looking at them.

"Erm... I bought these for you, but I wasn't sure if you would want them or not-"

I interrupted him. "I'll take them."

"Ok... uh, here you go."

I had never gotten flowers before. And then I realized so many things that I had not planned out. I felt so unprepared. I now could name so many things that I had never done before; walking home together, holding hands, hugging, even... but I couldn't think of kissing on my first date. I was getting way too deep into a river where I could walk on a bridge to get over. I took a deep breath, and suggested for him to walk me home.

"Sure!" for once he looked a bit proud of himself. He dug his hands into his jeans and led me out the door.

"I had fun tonight," I said quietly.

"Ha!" He laughed sarcastically. "Yeah right. I'm a horrible date."

"No you're not. You're the first person to ever give me flowers." It was too dark to tell, but I think his face reddened a little. "And you have been really nice."

He sighed. "I hope you liked it more than I think you did."

"This is my house," I said, indicating the house to our right. Our walk had been shorter than my liking.

"Right. Forgot, sorry."

"Remember when you used to come over twice a day?"

"Yeah! And that one time when we made mud pies in the backyard..."

"And you actually ate one!" We both laughed. I could feel the tension leaving me.

"See you," he waved and turned to leave. I didn't want him to leave. I wanted him to stay and talk all night long, and for me to maybe get my first kiss...

"Wait!"

"Hm?"

"Wanna do this next week?"

His lips curled up into a smile. "Yeah."

I smiled too. "'Night." I walked up the front steps, closed the front door, barely made it to my bed, and fell in a daze onto my comforter and pillows.


	3. Sally Brown

_Sally Brown_

I was sitting in Lucy's bedroom, and I couldn't help but wish I hadn't of accepted her invitation to come over. My ears could barely take the headache-inducing rock music coming from downstairs for one more second. Lucy was sitting by the mirror putting on some mascara, mostly ignoring me. I should have known that the only reason why she would invite me was because the other girls had no connection to the band. They hated music, especially rock, and Vi wouldn't want to see Lucy flirting with her boyfriend. Franklin, my boyfriend, played bass, and so I actually had a reason to go down and talk to them.

The pounding rhythm faded, and the house became eerily silent.

"Let's go check if anything's up," Lucy said, applying her last bit of makeup. I knew that it was all for Schroeder, she was still obsessed with him, even if he was dating Violet. She always tried to find an excuse for talking to him, but it was no use; he only had eyes for Vi.

Lucy did another check in the mirror, examining her face for the slightest imperfection. She was pretty, but her problem was that she covered up most of her beauty with buckets of makeup. She was head cheerleader, and whenever she wasn't wearing her cheer outfit she was wearing a short dress or mini skirt with five-inch heels. Today she was wearing a purple dress with a low top and dark blue heels. Hoop earrings stuck out from under her coal-black curly hair, and a matching black choker around her neck. She had bags under her hazel eyes and I knew she didn't have sleep last night.

I felt a bit of remorse as I looked at her. She had been trying for a hopeless case for ten years, and was suffering from insomnia. She spent most of her nights at parties or clubs, and had come home drunk more than once. Her grades had dropped significantly, and I once found a pack of cigarettes under her bed. I knew she was depressed, but it seemed like I was the only one who noticed, and I didn't know how to help her. Her own family didn't seem to care!

"Ok, come on," she said, and she pulled me down the stairs.

The music had started up again by the time we had made it to the garage. I could hear the piano solo starting, and could almost see Lucy's heart thumping out of her chest. We walked into a dark room, where flashlights were being waved around by Georgia, Lucy's five-year-old sister, to imitate strobe lights. Nobody noticed us when we came in, and Schroeder was jamming on the piano wildly as Linus sang,

"_Cause when I kiss you,_

_It's like a hurricane!_

_I feel you touch me and it blows me away,_

_Cause baby, you're a hurricane_!"

"Hey Schroeder!" Lucy called over the music, and Schroeder stopped playing. The music stopped, and Rerun ran to get the lights.

"Lucy!" Linus yelled. "I told you not to come down when we're practicing!" He was furious. He got up from his chair behind the drums and started to shoo Lucy away.

"Linus, it's ok, they can watch," Schroeder sighed. He was used to Lucy by now. Linus turned and sat back down in his chair, arms crossed.

"Hi Franklin," I said, crossing over to him.

"Hey," he said, leaning down to kiss me.

I loved Franklin. I loved his sweet smell that was like roasted almonds, I loved his curly hair that was like ringlets of dark chocolate that looked so silky and rich that it was hard for me not to touch it. I could hardly get him out of my head. I know we had only been dating for four months, but every time he looked at me I got weak in the knees and my palms grew sweaty, the same way that used to happen when Linus looked at me...

When we finally broke away from each other (I confess we were getting pretty intimate), Linus was busying himself with the music, red in the face (he was probably still angry with Lucy), Rerun looking at us with disgust (he still hadn't gotten used to kissing yet), and Schroeder was trying to ignore Lucy as she leaned down to examine his shirt.

"We need a name if we're going to release that song," Linus said.

"I still think we should be 'Beethoven 2'," Schroeder said, fanning out his shirt that had Beethoven printed on the front.

"No," Rerun said flatly.

"What about 'The Gang'?" Franklin suggested.

I nodded. "Sounds nice and simple."

Linus said sternly, "You aren't in the band, Sally."

"Who cares? I like the name too," Rerun said.

"Fine, who wants us to be 'The Gang'?"

Everyone raised their hand except Schroeder, who muttered,"I still like 'Beethoven 2' better."

"Ok, we're now The Gang. I think that's enough for a day, see you all Monday at Franklin's house," Linus said, starting to put the drum set away.

At that moment, my phone rang. I flipped it open.

"Hello?"

"Sally? This is Marcie. Could I talk to you?"

I was a little taken aback. Marcie hardly ever talked to me on the phone because she thought that it did weird things to your ear. Something about the radio waves. "Uh, yeah, sure, one sec."

"I gotta go," I said to Linus and Franklin, who were the only people remembering that I was in the room.

"Bye," Franklin said, kissing me on my forehead.

"Ok Marcie, what do you want?" I said as I was out of the garage and walking back home.

"You were the only person I could talk to. It's about Pat and your brother."

"Yeah, what about them?"

"You see, I think I like him, and I just needed to tell someone that."

I could hear her sobbing.

"Shh, it's alright, there are plenty of other guys..." I said, trying to soothe her. It was a little awkward though, because she was into my brother. I was even a little surprised. I mean, this was _Charlie Brown_. Plus, girls didn't usually just blurt out that they liked someone, especially not through tears and over the phone. But considering that Marcie probably never had feelings about anyone before, she was acting correctly for her level of experience with relationships.

"But not like him, Sally, he always understands me and listens to me, no other guy does that."

"Look, I'll talk to you later, I'm almost to my house, bye."

And I hung up. I felt bad, but I was tired and needed sleep. Charlie wasn't home yet, and I was torn between hoping he was having a good evening with Patty and hoping he was having the worst time of his life. I cared about my brother, but I also cared about my friend. But Patty was my friend too... I skipped changing into pajamas and just slept with my full outfit on, exhausted from the strain on who's side I should be on.

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><p><strong>Please note that Georgia (Lucy's sister) is my own made up character and not a creation of Schultz.<strong>


	4. Marcie

_Marcie_

I didn't know why I was crying; it wasn't like it was the end of the world. I shouldn't have called Sally. It only made me feel worse and now she knew that I liked her brother. Why was I such a screw-up? Miss-I-know-everything-except-acting-like-a-human- being overreacted. I put my face in my hands and sighed. Sally was right. There are other guys in this world.

To make me feel even worse, the phone started ringing. I knew that it was Patty (there was no one else who I knew who would call at eleven at night), and I really didn't want to hear what had happened. I decided that I should be a good friend, and unwillingly picked up the phone.

"Hey Marcie!" I could tell from the sound of her voice that it had gone pretty well.

"Hey Patty," I sighed.

"Do you have a cold? Your voice sounds funny."

Leave it up to Patty to make you feel worse without her realizing it.

"No, I'm fine."

"Guess what Chuck and I did!"

Without letting me answer, she continued. She gave me every tiny detail, including exactly what color each flower petal was and how many fries Chuck ate. I felt sick to my stomach. I wish I had been the one who had sat next to him and talked while eating a fattening meal that had killed a cow in the process. I wish it had been me that Charlie had given the daisies to. I wish it had been us walking home together.

I started fantasizing it, we would be on my front porch, the wind chimes making a soft tune with the gentle breeze, and we would be holding each other, and he would be leaning forward to kiss me...

"Marcie? Are you still there?" Patty asked through the phone. I snapped back to the present and wiped the small bit of drool coming from the corner of my mouth.

"Yeah, sorry. Say that again?"

"I said, maybe we could go on a double date. You could ask a guy and we could go together and it would be so fun!" I knew that by 'maybe' she meant 'will'.

"But what guy would I ask?" In my head, I said, 'Cause I really want to go out with Charlie, but he's unavailable'.

"Who do you know who is unavailable?" Not Charlie.

"Uhh... Pig-pen," I said, the first one that I could think of.

"Nah, too dirty, I don't want to be eating dust with my sandwich."

"Shermy?"

"He's way too old for you, Marce! Who do you like? You could ask them."

Panicking, I quickly said the first name that popped up in my head. "What, Linus?"

"Oh my gosh! You like Linus? That would be perfect! Ask him Monday, for a double date with me and Chuck for Friday night. Bye." And she hung up.

"Ugh, what am I going to do?" I whined to my Johnny Depp poster. "This is the worst day of my life."

I decided to go ahead and call Linus tonight, even though it was late. I might as well get it done. Patty would probably pester me until I got it done anyway.

I didn't know his cell number, so I called his landline instead.

"Hello?" It was Lucy.

"Hi, this is Marcie. Could I talk to your brother?"

"Why?"

"Because I want to ask him something." I wondered if Lucy could tell if I was blushing or not. It felt obvious, even though we were blocks away from each other.

"You know it's midnight, right?"

"Yeah, but I still need to talk to him."

"Ok. I'll go wake him up. Be right back."

I waited for five minutes, trying to think of what to say. I had it all planned out.

"'Ello?" Linus yawned.

"Hey, Linus. This is Marcie. So you know Patty and Chu- I mean Charlie Brown? Well, Patty wants me to go on a double date with them, but I have to have someone to go with. It's on Friday and I was wondering if you could be my date."

"Mmm... Sure. Night Madi."

"Marcie," I corrected.

"Yeah, sorry... bye."

I threw my cell on my nightstand and sighed.

"Well, that went well."

I had a nightmare that night where every time I tried to talk someone would interrupt me and laugh. Then I saw Patty and Charlie kissing passionately while Linus yawned at me and said, "You're really boring, Madi."

I woke at three in the morning and couldn't go back to sleep. I tried to read, but the image of Patty and Charlie kissing kept swimming back up into my mind. It must have been nature's way of revenge for wanting to eat a dead cow. I wondered what Charlie Brown was thinking about right now. Probably Patty. I wish he was thinking of me, though. How romantic that would be! I fell asleep again, while fantasizing about Charlie kissing me, and not Patty. The thought helped me sleep soundly for the rest of the night.


	5. Linus Van Pelt

**This chapter is set a week after the last chapter, on Friday, right before the double date.**

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><p><em>Linus Van Pelt<em>

I don't know how I agreed to do this.

Oh yeah, I was half asleep and my brain was mush and I did it to get back to sleep as quickly as possible. Remind me to drink coffee before the next time I answer someone's question at midnight.

Marcie talked to me on Wednesday and told me where we were meeting and when. I was supposed to go to Charlie Brown's house at five, and it was currently 4:47. I zipped up my jacket and looked in the mirror. I saw a kid who was wearing jeans that were much to short, had long stringy hair that needed a haircut badly, with a zit specked face and frowning mouth.

I couldn't look that bad though. I mean, someone did ask me out. I closed my eyes and pretended that it had been Sally who had called at midnight and asked for a double date with Charlie Brown and Patty. But then my dreams washed away as I was reminded that she already had a boyfriend.

It hadn't of really bothered me (well it did, but I wasn't so sick to my stomach then), until I saw them kiss for the first time in my garage. I'm sure they had kissed before, probably loads of times, but I didn't really think of how serious they were until that night. The way she looked at him, how she grew red in the face when he talked to her, how fervently they kissed, not caring what was around them. I'm sure that if a zombie apocalypse was going on, they would have no idea or even care if they were in each other's arms, locking lips.

For some reason, I seemed empty inside, but not hurt. Maybe I had finally gotten over her. I really had always liked her, even when we were young. I used to feel warm inside whenever she spoke to me, even though most of the time she was embarrassing. But a kid who believed in the Great Pumpkin and always had a blue blanket with him was used to embarrassment.

I slipped my jacket off and put on my sport coat instead. It had been made out of my old blanket once I had started going to middle school, because I had begged my mom to make the blue rag into something I could use. It sometimes attracted attention, having a patched-up, blue wool sport coat, but I didn't care. I always felt safe when I wore it, and that was the important thing.

Taking a deep breath, I checked once more in the mirror and made sure I had put deodorant on. I then left the house and started walking to Charlie Brown's house, hoping against hope that Sally wasn't there, and that I would have a decent time with Marcie, Charlie Brown, and Patty.

I arrived at Charlie Brown's house right on time, although he was still busy. He couldn't decide if he should shave or not, although I couldn't see any facial hair on him anyway. Finally, he decided to just pat a bit of aftershave on, just to make it seem like he had shaved.

We jumped in the car, Charlie Brown yelling to his parents that he would be back no later than 11, and started driving to Patty's house. The plan was that we pick both Patty and Marcie up at Patty's place, then drive to the movies and get dinner afterwards. What movie and what restaurant we were going to go to were still undecided. I personally wanted to see Awesome Science starring Bill Nye, but I knew Patty would only let us do that if her body lay cold and dead on the floor.

We got to Patty's house ten minutes late, but they still weren't ready. Marcie let us in and guided us to the living room, where we sat on green armchairs until both girls came down, finally finished.

I must say, they both looked very pretty; not as pretty as Sally, but I had to give them credit. They were almost complete opposites. Marcie, who was shorter than Patty, had dressed in a casual t-shirt and jeans, and only had a bit of makeup on, with her hair as straight as possible, whereas Patty had on a shimmering green dress with matching heels and purse, and her face covered in cosmetics with her hair frizzed out like she had just been electrocuted. It was quite shocking to see Patty in a dress, period, not to mention a very formal one. I half expected her to rip it off and have a t-shirt and Capri shorts on underneath.

But I had no intention of ripping off Charlie Brown's date's clothes. That just made me feel sick.

"You look good," I said to Marcie without a bat of an eye. I seemed to never have trouble with girls except Sally. I don't know why... I guess I'm just a natural charmer.

Marcie grew pink and glanced at Patty for help of what to say.

But Patty wasn't even paying attention to us. She seemed impatient, waiting for Charlie Brown to say something. He looked flustered, tapping his fingers on his leg and turning a dark magenta.

"Should we go now? I don't want to be late to the movie," I said after a few seconds of awkward silence.

"Yeah," Patty said, crossing her arms and looking cross.

We all climbed in the car, Charlie Brown and I in the front and Marcie and Patty in the back. We drove the whole way to the movie, in a more than awkward, stony silence. Patty had unlocked her arms, but her face remained in the same angry expression.

When we arrived, I suggested Awesome Science but only Marcie was interested.

"How about that new documentary? What was it called...Baseball Hall of Fame? It's the new edition," Patty said, and I agreed just because I knew I would lose any argument with her, especially since her mood was on edge at the moment, making her possibly one of the most dangerous females on the planet at the moment.

About three-fourths into the movie, I woke up. It was currently talking about some guy named Vernon "Lefty" Gomez. I looked around me to see if anyone was actually watching it. To my left, Marcie was looking at the screen, but I couldn't tell if her eyes were closed or not. To my right, I saw Charlie Brown and Patty watching it with extreme interest and excitement, as if it were Transformers or Harry Potter. And, with a sudden drop in my stomach, I saw that they were holding hands.

I semi-panicked. Should I hold Marcie's hand? No, of course not, you don't like her like that. But was she expecting me to hold her hand? If I held her hand, she would think I liked her, and we might turn into a couple... But was that a bad thing? My heart told me yes, yes... You like Sally, you fool! But my brain said, If you ever want to be in a relationship with someone, drop Sally and start one that isn't fantasy!

For once I thought my heart was right. I know I'm stupid and that Sally would never like me again, but I just couldn't accept it.

I jammed my hands in my pockets, just in case I accidentally put them on the armrest and she would incase them with her own. I eventually went back to sleep again as the movie started talking about some guy named James Bunning.


	6. Peppermint Patty 2

_Peppermint Patty_

Chuck and I walked out of the movie theater hand-in-hand. I felt queasy, and yet had to control myself from bursting into song.

We had to wake both Marcie and Linus when the movie was over. Marcie looked like she needed the sleep, though. She was unusually quiet on the ride to dinner, and kept staring at Chuck and I's entwined fingers, then nervously glancing at Linus. Linus also looked nervous, and he tried hard to not to look at any of us. That was probably a good thing, though, considering that he was the one driving.

When we arrived at the Dessert Palace, Chuck and I started to hold hands again and walk into the sweet-smelling restaurant. It in itself looked liked candyland. The booths were bubble-gum pink and the tables had a candy-cane pattern. The waitresses had hats that looked like ice cream, and the chef, a portly little fellow with a whipped-cream mustache looked like a cake decked with white frosting. I had only been here a few times, but every time I saw him he was smiling or licking his lips. Besides serving a wide selection of desserts, the Dessert Palace also served regular food. Mostly sandwiches and salads, so you could come and eat a very low-calorie meal but get enough dessert it wouldn't really matter. Marcie came about once a week, not because of the the sweets, but because it was vegetarian-friendly.

A gum-drop of a waitress with chocolate-brown hair showed us to our seats and handed out our menus.

"Welcome-to-Dessert-Palace-My-name-is-Gracie-I'll- be-your-waitress-this-evening-What-is-your-order?" 

Gracie seemed to talk in monotone, probably waiting for her shift to end and to go home. She had a sour look on her face and was very impatient, tapping her pen on her notepad, waiting for us to tell her our order.

"A turkey sandwich," I said.

"Same," Chuck announced, throwing a smile in my direction. I could have sworn Gracie the Waitress had muttered, "Teen love."

"A salad, please, extra tomatoes and no dressing," Marcie ordered shyly, neatly folding her menu and handing it to Gracie.

"A hot fudge cheesecake with a chocolate chip cookie a la mode, topped with gummy bears and Oreos... wait, instead of chocolate chip, make that cookie oatmeal. Don't wanna get fat," Linus said, leaning back in the booth, hands behind his head. Everyone at the table was staring at him, except for Gracie, who was jotting down his order with a yawn.

"Ok-I'll-be-right-back-with-your-orders-in-one-sec ond," and she dashed into the kitchen, where the pastry-looking chef awaited.

"What?" Linus asked, eyeing us all. "We_ are_ at Dessert Palace."

Marcie grew red and covered her face in her hands. I rolled my eyes and decided that it would be useless to argue... let him over-eat and die of obesity.

"Well... Did you guys enjoy the movie?" Chuck asked Marcie and Linus.

"Oh yes, very fascinating," Marcie said. I wasn't sure if she was being sarcastic.

"I liked how they put the documentary movies in the theaters with comfortable seats. It really adds to the sleep...er, _movie_ experience," Linus joked. I resisted the urge to punch him.

"I personally liked the part about Max Carey," I said, turning to face Chuck the only one at the table that I knew had actually watched the movie. His face was closer to mine than I thought it was. I could see every small freckle on his nose, every teal fleck in his steel blue eyes. And for one small fraction of a second, I felt a jolt in my stomach, and I knew he was the person of whom I wanted to be in love with. And I decide to make my move.

It was quite easy. His face had only been a few inches away from mine; I had only shortened the space.

It was my first kiss, and I have to admit, it was a lot more wet than I thought it would be. But besides that, it felt wonderful, almost magical. He smelled like honey, and his lips were soft. I couldn't believe I was kissing him; and I was even more surprised (and delighted) that he was kissing me back.

After what seemed like an eternity, but felt like it wasn't enough, he pulled away. The food had come, and I blushed. He was red in the face too, and tried to not look at Linus and Marcie, but I could see the corners of his lips were smiling.

Marcie was stabbing angrily at her salad. I guessed that they didn't add as many tomatoes as she wanted.

Linus was inhaling his cheesecake, almost literally. He barely took long enough breaks from stuffing his face to breathe.

Chuck played with his sandwich, and I was wondering if he was thinking the same thing as me. I knew he liked it, or he wouldn't be smiling like a fool. But I wondered if he wanted more. I thought of his honey-smell again. I felt like grabbing him and kissing him again. But that wouldn't be good manners to do it in front of Marcie and Linus. I leaned in close to his ear and whispered, "Hey."

"Hey," he whispered back.

"Did you like it?" It sounded corny, but I still wanted to know.

He turned red. "Yeah."

"You sly dog," I said, not being able to stop myself. It was what I used to say, but for once he really was like a sly dog. He smiled at me.

He looked into my eyes, and I felt their blue pierce me, and for once I felt like I was in paradise, and I never wanted to leave.


	7. Sally Brown 2

**Sorry it's taken me so long to update. I've been writing a story that is completely my own, and it kind of interfered.**

****Not Related to Peanuts or This Fanfic** I have recently been seeing some Fanfics that have "OC". WHO THE HAY IS THIS? I have a feeling that it's a made up character, but please tell me in a review or something, because I am really freaking out right now. Anyway, here's the story.**

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><p><em><strong>Sally Brown<strong>_

_Why must he be so frustrating?_ I fumed, throwing my phone across the room. I immediately regretted this; it hit the wall, and the battery fell out. I got up and walked over to pick it up, hoping the mild exercise would let off a little steam.

I loved Franklin, but sometimes I thought he was selfish. Too selfish. He wanted me to quit going to the beauty school after regular school and hang out with him instead. 'There are things that are more important than beauty _school," _I could just imagine him wrinkling his nose as he said _school_. Franklin had nearly flunked every class (except for P.E.) last year, and he was going to try and improve his grades unless it meant he couldn't play sports.

His parents spoiled him; they never set any rules, and he never had any punishment from them. He always got what he wanted... until tonight.

He said he was going to break up with me. I feel like a hole ate up in the pit of my stomach. He was of course, only trying to scare me, and I shouldn't be worried, but I felt a bit paranoid.

The front door slammed and I heard stumbling feet go up the stairs. Charlie Brown was home (a/n: I don't know why Sally calls him Charlie 'Brown'. I just want her to. So deal with it.).

"Hey Charlie!" I yelled. I winced as my voice broke.

He opened the door and walked in. "Hey Sal." He was smiling like a clown on a sugar high, and I could tell that he couldn't see that I was upset.

"You had a good time," I said.

"How did you know?" he asked, confused.

"Oh I don't know, maybe because you're smiling wider than the Cheshire cat," I said with a weak smile.

"I had the most wonderful time, Sally," Charlie dreamily sighed, and floated down to my bed.

"What happened?" I asked, trying to be interested. Truth was I couldn't care less right now about how Charlie's date went, but being a good sister I sucked in my brimming tears and listened to Charlie ramble on about Patty.

"She has such a beautiful voice Sally," he said. "When she talks to me, I think of a dove, cooing to its mate. I think I'm in love."

I thought in the back of my head, _she sounds more like a crow with something stuck in her throat to me. _I half-smiled. Before I could tell Charlie 'Oh that's nice', he started to describe her in a dreamy, far-off voice.

"Her hair is so soft, and it looks just like freshly melted caramel. And she goes true to her nickname too, she smells just like peppermints, and her lips, they taste so sweet like them too-"

My jaw dropped. I had only been half-listening, but this line came straight to my attention. "You _kissed_ her?"

"Oh yeah, forgot to mention that," he said, his lips screwed up into a mischievious smile, but his cheeks turned a faint, salmon pink color.

I felt a swift drop in my stomach, like a brick falling from a ten-story building. "Wasn't Marcie there?" I faintly remembered him mentioning her before the date.

"Yeah, her and Linus went with us...Why do you ask?"

"Uh, nothing," I said, quickly hiding the remorse I felt for my friend. She must be feeling so horrible. "Look, I'm really tired, so I want to get to bed soon. I'll talk to you in the morning."

I quickly shooed him out the door and picked up my cell. I dialed Marcie's number, but no one picked up. I solemnly hung up my phone. I'd call her again in the morning.

But for some reason, I felt sharp pang of jealousy in my chest, right over my heart. _She was with Linus_.

I never really thought that Linus would go on a date with anybody, even me. I always thought about him as out of reach, never accessible. I only dreamed of him being with me, but never really thought that it would ever happen. That's why I got over him and started going out with Franklin.

But now, after my fight with Franklin, and I found out that Linus was actually willing to go out on a date, I felt strangely full inside, with light and hope filling me up until I was bursting. I needed to speak to him. I needed to tell him how I felt, I needed to know if he felt he same about me.

On a sudden impulse, I grabbed my phone and called his cell.

_Ring. _Please pick up.

_Ring. _My whole future depends on this.

_Ring. _If you don't pick up now I'll never tell you how I feel about you...

"Hello?" It was Linus. I had to tell him.

So with a sudden surge from my gut, I blurted out, "I love you."

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><p><strong>MWAHAHAHAHAHA! A CLIFFHANGER! Bet you weren't expecting THAT, eh? Well, I'll try to update soon... I don't really like punishing my readers. Byes!<strong>


	8. Linus Van Pelt 2

**Look, I know I said I had a cliffhanger. And then about two hours later I'm publishing it. ****It was fun while it lasted. I know ****I'm horrible at making my readers wait. DEAL. WITH. IT. Anyway, Enjoy!**

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><p><strong><em>Linus Van Pelt<em>**

"I love you," Sally said, her voice shaking a bit.

I stood in my bedroom, Darth Vader glaring down at me from my Star Wars poster, with a total loss of what to say.

My heart thundered against my chest, and I was surprised that she wasn't able to hear it. This is what I had been dreaming for her to say since I was ten.

"Are you there?" she asked, worry embedded in her voice.

I broke from my happy, stunned, trance and answered quickly, "Oh, yeah."

She paused. "Then why aren't you saying anything?"

_Because I'm too happy for words_. That was what I wanted to say, but when I opened my mouth, I heard sobbing coming from the other end.

"I can't believe I did this to you," she said between sobs. "I know you don't love me. I don't know why I told you I loved you. Now you know. My life is now ruined."

"Hey, no, I'm just too happy to speak," I said reassuringly.

The sobs on the other end stopped almost immediately. "Y-you're _what_?"

"You heard me."

I heard sudden gasps, and she seemed to be hyperventilating. "It would be good if you breathed," I added, worried for her health.

She chuckled softly, but still seemed to be breathing a little too fast.

"I need to see you," she said after a while.

"Sal, it's 11:30-"

"I don't care. Meet me on the corner of Sycamore and Eve in ten minutes." I heard her shuffle around and hang up. I sighed and stuffed my cell in my coat pocket, right beside my fake pocket protector (I only wore it for a joke). I creeped slowly down the stairs, trying not to breathe, for fear of being too loud. I opened the door as slowly as I could, making sure that the hinges didn't squeak. If my parents knew I was sneaking out... I don't even want to know what they'd do to me.

When I finally made it outside, a horrible smell filled my nostrils and smoke floated around my head. My sister was leaning on the rail of the porch, her make up smeared on her face and her top crooked, so a strap of her bra showed. Noticing me, she flicked something to the ground and glared at me.

"You're supposed to be in bed," she said.

"So are you," I said, trying not to grimace as I smelled alcohol in her breath.

"Touche," she said, and took a swig from a light brown bottle.

"You're not supposed to be drinking. Mom said-"

"Oh, shut up!" she interrupted me. "Do you really think I care about what mom thinks?"

I knew it was a rhetorical question, and I had a strong urge to say a fiery response. "Fine. I won't tell her. Can I go now?"

"Am I holding you back?"

I didn't answer. I simply ran down the porch steps and off into the darkness.

The only lights on the streets were from the broken ones that casted dark, twisted shadows on the sidewalk, and I hoped that Sally wasn't waiting for me. Why had she wanted to see me? Was there really something that couldn't wait until morning? Come to think about it, it was actually almost morning anyway.

I arrived at our meeting place, a lamp shedding yellow light upon the spot.

I paced around, waiting for her to come.

A prickle of fear shot up my spine when a thought occurred to me.

Maybe this was all some twisted trick Sally had made. Maybe she was home, laughing at my stupidity. But would she do that?

A shadow crawling towards me told me she wouldn't have.

"Sorry I'm late," she said.

"No problem," I said, relieved.

Before I could say anything else, she pushed her face up to mine and kissed me. I didn't know what I should do. I had never kissed anyone before, and it completely caught me off guard. But her smell that was like the sea and softness of her lips made a fire burn to life inside me, and made me kiss back. I felt like I was doing a sloppy job, but for a first, I think I did pretty good. Her warm hands ruffled through my hair, and my finger raveled around her luxurious blonde locks.

She slowly pulled away, and rested her head on my chest.

"I've always wanted to do that," she murmured softly.

"Me too," I sighed heavily, holding her closer to me. I never wanted to leave. This was more than I could have ever wished for. We seemed to stand there holding each other for hours, although it was probably only minutes in regular time. She looked up into my eyes.

She had freckles dotted across her cheeks and nose. This was the first time I had ever noticed. I also saw that she had the exact shape of nose as her brother, Charlie Brown. But who would have ever thought that she was related to him?

She smiled. I smiled back down at her. Her smell of the ocean was wafting back to me, and I had a strong urge to kiss her again. But I knew that we had done enough for one night. Instead, I said the only thing that was on my mind.

"Pizza," I said. (a/n: Yes, I know this sounds stupid and unromantic. But just think about it: He only had a hot fudge cheesecake with an oatmeal cookie a la mode, topped with gummy bears and oreos. An OATMEAL cookie. A guy gets hungry, y'know.)

She looked up at me with confusion stamped across her face. "What?"

"Come on, let's go get some," I said, and I pulled her, laughing, to the nearest all-night pizzaria.


	9. Lucy Van Pelt

**Thanks to supersexyghotmew95 for the ideas!**

**This chapter and every other chapter in Lucy's POV is dedicated to two of my friends who are going through a few of the same hardships as Lucy.**

**Also, you might not care about this, but I've had over 1,000 hits to this story! Thank you for reading this :)**

***Note* This chapter shows people using drugs and alcohol. I am in not in any way close to liking any drugs or alcohol, and I actually highly disapprove of them. But, in my story, some of the characters don't share the same views, and so I apologize. Please don't hate me! *offers hot fudge cheesecake with a chocolate chip cookie a la mode, topped with gummy bears and oreos***

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><p><em><strong>Lucy Van Pelt<strong>_

I looked off into the thick darkness where my brother left me just a few moments ago. I felt dizzy, sick, and tired. I hadn't slept in days, and I had skipped class for the whole week. I studied my now empty beer bottle, and pondered if Schroeder was still dating Vi. I wrinkled my nose as I thought about her being with him, sharing happy memories together, and while I'm just... here, drinking a cheap bottle of beer and smoking a crappy cigarette.

I threw the bottle across the lawn, and it broke into a hundred pieces on the sidewalk. At that same time, a heavy metal song started playing on my cell. I took it out and looked at the caller ID. Shermy. I flipped it open.

"Hello?"

"Hey Luce, I was wondering if you were free to come over tonight," he said, his deep voice sounded a bit menacing.

"Do you have any dust?" I asked. 'Dust' was the code name we used for drugs. Shermy had learned the hard way that saying its real name can get you in mounds of trouble.

"Yeah, picked up from just last night," he said. "I also broke into my parent's stash of water." 'Water' was another code name. It meant boos.

"Kay, I'll be there in a while," I said, and I got into my jet black car and drove over to Shermy's place always ten miles over the speed limit.

Shermy lived in his own place, ever since his family disowned him. He had stopped going to school so he could get a job, but he never had one that lasted long. His house, or should I say shed, was in the outskirts of town, where most of the gangs lived. You could always bet on getting robbed sometime or other, and the place was crowded with people.

Shermy's shed-house-thing was as small as my bedroom, with a small kitchen and an even smaller sleeping place. There was an out house outside, which was only a hole in the ground surrounded by short walls. It was the saddest thing I had ever seen... If I had never laid eyes on Shermy.

Shermy was tall, and very slender, his bones showing through his light milky-white skin. His face was hollow, and no matter where he was, he was able to shed a shadow over his dark, tunnel eyes. He had thin lips and rotting, yellow teeth. He had long, coarse brown hair and a bit of stubble on his chin. A dragon tatoo, which matched all of the other tatoos in his gang, the "Golden Lizards", circled around his right arm. I don't think he had bathed in over a year, and he spent all of his time laying around, drinking and smoking. Of course, I don't blame him. Something bad happened three years ago, something that had turned his life to ruins.

I have no idea what it was, but it was bad enough to turn this 4.0 GPA student, Honor Society Member, Student Body President into... well, this.

As I drove into a dirt "driveway", I saw him fiddling around with some paper and _dust _on the lawn, preparing to light up. Just the secondary smoke of his buddies' drugs made me feel higher than Mt. Everest. I knew that we would be having fun tonight, in our own "Wonderland".

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><p><strong>Sorry it's short. Please Review! Reviews=my happiness=writing mood=more chapters! It's the Ciiiiirclee of... story, erm... stuff. So just send me a review. I don't even care if it's a bad one or a short one. I love them anyways! Send me what you think!<strong>


	10. Shermy

_**Hey people! Sorry I haven't updated for so long, I just have had a lot going on =_= But I tried to make this a long chapter to make up for the long wait and the earlier short chapter. Hope you'll forgive me :)**_

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><p><em><strong>Shermy<strong>_

Lucy slammed the door to her car and walked up to our group, taking in deep breaths of the drug's smoke.

"What do you have?" she asked me.

"Something just for you," I said, half-smiling, as I handed her the one that I had just papered and a lighter.

"Thanks," she said, lighting up.

I never smoked myself. I thought it was too much for my lungs. Everyone else thought I did, but they were so drugged up that they hardly noticed me at all. The only reason why I hung out with them was because I had to get away from the hole that was inside my chest. Although it wasn't the greatest kind of crowd, it made me have a sense of reality. I went from day to day, just thinking about what had happened, but when I start to breathe in that secondary smoke and drink my cheap beer, I actually feel something besides pain, which, in my case, is nothing at all. It made me forget it for a little while. But no matter how many people I hang out with, or how many boos I drink, I can't fully take my mind, or heart, off of Patty.

I still remember that day, in the middle of summer, such a hot morning, must have been over 100 outside. I could smell the bacon my mom was making downstairs as I slouched out of bed.

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><p><em>*three years earlier* <em>The doorbell rang. "I'll get it," I called to my mom as I reached the ground floor, spinning around the stair railing to the front door.

When I opened the door, I saw a short, stout police officer in the doorway, holding a small blue note book and a badge. Holding up the badge so I could see, he said in a weezy voice, "Hello. Is there a..." he flipped through his note book, searching for something. "Shermy...Greene?"

A lump went up into my throat. Had I done something wrong? I didn't remember breaking any laws. Heck, I didn't even break any _rules_, let alone laws. It had to be about one of my friends... but that didn't make me feel any better.

"I'm he," I said, motioning him inside.

"Thanks," he said as he shuffled into our living room.

"Who is it, Honey?" Mom asked, walking into the living room with a towel thrown over her shoulder, wiping her hands on her old-fashioned lace apron.

She stopped moving when she saw the officer.

He tipped his hat in her direction, and said, "Just have to ask a few questions, and I have a bit off bad news."

"What's the bad news?" my mom snapped, crossing over to sit next to me on the couch. The officer ran a hand over his face and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Do you know Pat or Patty Barlowe?" the officer asked.

You mean that one girl who visits my house every other day? That girl who laughs at all my jokes? The one who I do everything with? The person who I told everything from the deepest parts of my heart except my feelings for her? That... _being_ who made my stomach flip over every time she looked at me? Patty, the girl who I was madly in love with? Oh, yeah. How would I _ever _be able to forget?

"Yeah, we... know each other pretty well," I said. What had she done? What would Patty do that would make a police officer come to my house?

"Well, this might be hard to take, but... she was run over by a car this morning while walking across the street. She's dead. I'm sorry."

_She's dead._ I had heard the words but I couldn't believe them. My mom had stiffened, her hand laying on my back, and it felt strange and alien there. The police officer looked at us, a frightened expression on his face, as if we might explode or run around the house waving our arms above our heads, screaming at everything that moved. And at that moment, I felt like doing it.

"D-dead?" I stuttered, just to make sure I had heard right. But when I said it, the word seemed to burn my tongue.

The officer nodded. "Yes. We don't know who ran her over; it was a hit and run, although we are pretty sure it was an accident."

I suddenly felt like screaming. I felt like finding the person who had done this to Patty, wanted them to suffer. Wring their neck, whip them, burn them. Especially since they had done the cowardly thing and just ran away. But, even if they had given themselves in, would I ever forgive them?

Mom sighed. "Thank you for... informing us. You are welcome to leave when you see fit." She looked at the officer with a strange fire in her eyes, as if it was his fault Patty had... gone. He was startled with her statement, but mostly by the glare she was giving him. He quickly got to his feet and mumbling a good-bye, left in a hurry.

"Honey," Mom said softly once he had left, "I'm so sorry. I know you two were close..." I ignored her and got up to leave. I just had to be alone. I ran out the door and into the street, not caring about the strange and startled looks from the neighbors. I passed Lucy's house, Charlie's, Pig-Pen's... But I didn't stop until I arrived at a grey house with a beautiful garden and large tree with a tree-house. It was surrounded by about five police cars, but no police officers. I didn't care, though. I just needed to see _our_ place. I headed over to the tree, and started climbing up to the little tree house.

It was small, but seemed like such a comfort to me. A pile of magazines lay in a corner, and a pair of beanbags lay across from them. So many memories flooded up to me, and I couldn't stop the tears from flowing from my eyes. I had fallen in love with someone here... I had shared my first kiss here... I spent the best hours of my life here...

It was too much. I stayed in the treehouse until the sun began to set, leaving it a golden-magenta color. Patty would have enjoyed it. I could see her face, right here, next to mine. She would be staring at the sunset, enjoying its beauty, thinking I was looking at it too, just as she always does, but I would really be studying her.

She was the most beautiful person I knew. She had dark, chestnut hair that was cut into a short bob, and eyes that were greener than the grass in her lawn. Freckles dotted her face and nose, and her lips were a light red, soft as ever. But she wasn't there. She never would be.

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><p>It had taken my mom a few weeks to finally realize that I needed counseling. But even when I did visit the councilor about three times a week, I had a hard time eating and sleeping. I started to steal, thinking adrenaline would take away the pain. No. I was violent, and had harsh arguments with Mom, which resulted with her kicking me out of the house. It was all right; I <em>was<em> 19 years old. I started hanging out with my new druggie friends. But nothing gets my mind off of her.

Nothing ever would. I hated life. They never found out who had killed her, and deep down inside I feel like I will someday figure it out and get revenge. I had thought about suicide, because I really had nothing to live for, but that one thought, revenge, is what keeps me going.

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><p><em><strong>Hope you liked it! Don't forget to review :) I'll try to update the next chap more quickly than this one.<strong>_


	11. Schroeder

**Sorry for the long wait, readers. There really is no good excuse, so I'll just shut up and give you the story.**

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><p><strong><em>Schroeder<em>**

I was running down a black hallway. I knew I had to get somewhere, but I didn't know where or how. Ten, blazing white doors stood near the end, nearly blinding me with their brightness. The all looked big and foreboding, even though the white was welcoming and warm compared to the rest of the darkness surrounding me.I knew that I had to get in one, but which? They all looked scary, and surely none of them would have something good inside. I decided to just close my eyes and pick one at eyelids flew down to cover my eyes as I reached out to grab a door handle, cringing as I imagined what might be behind this great, white door.

I opened my eyes just as soon as I opened the door. A massive piano was laid in the middle in the otherwise empty room. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, and I couldn't stop myself from advancing towards it, reaching my hands out, my fingers longing to play those delicate keys. I softly touched one of they keys, and the most wonderful note I had ever heard echoed around the room. I couldn't resist anymore. I sat down on a bench placed next to the piano, and began to play my favourite melody, lost in a world where only music exists.

But a voice that was unfamiliar to me spoke.

"I personally never really liked that one," It said.

I snapped out of my trance, and looked up at the speaker.

I had never met him before, but I immediately knew who he was. Ludwig van Beethoven was standing across the room, looking at me, with a small, sad smile on his face. I couldn't speak. I couldn't breathe. I just stared at him, both of us in utter silence, for quite some time.

"Hello Schroeder," he said.

I tried to find my words, but it was impossible.

"How do I know your name?" he said, almost as if he read my mind. "It's a dream, everyone knows your name in those. Unless it's a nightmare about how everyone forgot your name."

I smiled nervously.

"Anyway, the dream guys down in dream land sent me down here. Said it was really important to set you straight, and it better be, because it took me five hours to get here. I hope your happy."

"Er... Yeah," I said, not really knowing what else there was_ to_ say.

He snorted, and I wondered if the real Beethoven was ever like this.

"Look kid, I came here to give you some advice. You ready to hear it?"

"Sure," I said, thinking that there would be no harm done.

How wrong I was.

"Ok kid, here we go," he turned and exited out the door. I still sat down on the bench, wondering where he was going.

"Kid," he said, coming back through the door he just left through. "You need to follow me. That's how these things work."

"Oh, yeah. Obviously. Why didn't I think of that?" I said sarcastically.

"Hey, I don't need any back talk from you, kid. I got enough from the music critics." He then left, and I had to run to get back up to him. He had stopped in front of another white door. They didn't seem as scary now that I knew what was behind them.

He slowly opened the door, but instead of another piano like I expected, two people who were making out stood in the room. I recognized the ebony-black, long, curly hair as Vi's, and the dirty hands running up and down her back as Pig-pen's. My heart felt like someone was wringing it out, my chest felt tight, and my lungs couldn't convert oxygen into carbon dioxide.

"You know these two, correct?" Beethoven said, surveying the scene with an air of boredom. I nodded, unable to speak because of a large lump caught in my throat.

"You knew about this, didn't you? And yet you still let it happen."

The truth of his statement made the scene hurt five times worse. I did know about this. Vi had been cheating on me for several months now, but I never uttered a single word in protest. And Pig-pen spent every afternoon with me, because we did math tutoring after school and then walked home together. But he never looked uncomfortable, even when I spoke about Vi. It actually made me very angry. But I never said anything. Because I was a coward.

"Why are you still with her anyway?" Beethoven said, trying (and failing) to stifle a yawn.

"I...I don't really know," I said, looking at him questioningly.

"Hey, don't look at me," he said.

"I'm not."

"Yes you are, look! Oh... Never mind," he said shrugging.

"Ready to see the next door?"

I knew I was going to regret it, but I nodded, and we left the dream-Vi and Pig-pen to kiss in privacy.

He opened the next door, and we stepped inside.

A girl was curled up on the floor, not moving, and for a second I thought she was dead. But I saw her back move as she breathed, and that was when I noticed who she was.

"You know she still loves you," Beethoven said, studying me, seeing how I will react to what he has to say next.

He doesn't need to say it. I already known it. I've known it for such a long time, but I just keep refusing to believe it.

"You also know that you still love her."

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><p>It was then that I woke up, my forehead covered in sweat, and my conscience was worse than it had been for months.<p> 


	12. Charlie Brown 2

**I'm so sorry readers that I have now made you wait a month for an update now for three chapters. It is not very nice of me :(**

**But I think that I have everything happening in my life sorted out, and hopefully I will update more often.**

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><p><strong><em>Charlie Brown<em>  
><strong>

I flopped down on my bed, overwhelmed, and also tired. I had just heard Sally leave, and it was mystery to me as to where she might be going to. I just knew that Mom wouldn't be very happy about it once she got back.

I heard a scratching on my door, and at once I knew it was Snoopy. I opened the door to let him in, and he did, walking almost like a human, only on two feet. Snoopy was exactly like a human, except for he ate dog food. He had already grown older than most dogs, yet still looked and acted like he was in the prime of his life.

It was true, though, that he had lost a little bit of his shine when Woodstock left, and sometimes I worried about him, but he still acted like he was happy. That was the important thing, right?

"Snoopy, I don't know what to do," I said, flopping down on my bed again.

Snoopy looked up at me and in his look it was as if he was saying, "Tell me more."

"Well, it's about Peppermint Patty," I said, and his face brightened when he heard her name. They used to be really close.

"I want to tell her how I feel, but I have no idea how."

At this, Snoopy made a face and yelped something that sounded like, "Blech!" He then turned around and left.

My face grew red and I yelled out to him, "Thanks for the help!"

I wanted to slam the door, but I knew how much he hated that, and so instead I just closed the door softly and sat back down on the bed, for hopefully the last time, and took off my shoes.

I fell asleep almost immediately, which wasn't very surprising, considering the time of night I had finally gone to sleep at, and all of the things that had happened that day, making my mind go all in a whirl, making my brain exhausted.

I didn't have any dreams, although, even if I did, I probably wouldn't remember them anyway.

I woke the next morning, groggy as ever, and wandered down to the kitchen to eat some sugared cereal. It was already noon, and I grinned. My favourite part about the weekends was that I could sleep late. I meandered back up to my room, only slightly realizing that Sally wasn't in her room.

The next thing on my agenda was to take a long, hot shower to relax (even though I was already too relaxed for my own good). As I got out of the shower, wrapping a yellow towl around me, my phone began to ring, signaling that I had an incoming text. I was surprised to see that it had been Franklin who had called, and immediately thinking that Sally was in trouble, I opened it up.

_You know where Sally is?_

No, I answered, taking a while to type out such a small message; I still hadn't gotten a hang on texting, and my phone wasn't very texter friendly either.

Franklin never texted me back, so I figured he had just barely bumped into her.

But as the day wore on, I grew more and more worried. Sally usually stopped by the house to fix her hair or at least grab a small snack. But by nine in the evening, I still hadn't seen hide nor hair of her that whole day.

I called Violet and Marcie, but they hadn't seen her all day either. I had also called Patty, but she had talked on so much about last night and talking me into another date tonight that I couldn't get a word in about Sally.

I texted Linus, but he never answered, and neither did Franklin. Schroeder said he had been doing piano practice for a concert he was going to star in, and therefore had not left the house. I couldn't ask Mom or Dad, because if then they might get worried too.

I sat in my bedroom, trying to figure out where she was. I had been all over town, and didn't see her anywhere. Of course, I didn't go over to the bad side of town where Lucy usually hung out, but I didn't think that Sally would go there. Or rather, I _hoped_ she wouldn't.

But as Snoopy marched past my room, pretending to be an Army General, I knew what to do.


	13. Linus Van Pelt 3

_**Linus Van Pelt**_

"What are you doing?" Sally giggled as I walked along the sidewalk, taking wide steps, trying to not step on cracks, all the while holding Sally's hand, and she was trying hard to keep at a regular pace.

I had not slept for a day now, but I didn't feel tired. Sally's presence was enough to keep me awake for weeks. We had spent the whole night roaming the town, and mainly just talking. We had a lot to catch up on, especially since the last time we actually talked about ourselves was three years ago, when we were in the same grade.

"Yeah. What are you doing?" a voice from behind us said. We turned to find Franklin, who had a grave expression on his face, his eyes glowing with surpressed anger. He was leaning against a light pole, arms folded, and he looked much larger and meaner than I remembered him.

Sally blushed dark cherry, looked down at her feet, and muttered, "Hello Franklin."

He ignored her. "Well answer my question, Pelt."

"Since when did you start calling me "Pelt"?" I said indignantly. I hated it when people called me by my last name, even during formal occasions, and so one of my own friends using it made me a bit annoyed.

"Since when did you go around stealing your friend's girlfriend?" he retorted.

"I didn't steal her... we're just hanging out!"

"Oh, and do you just hold every girl's hand that you hang out with?"

"Yes, in fact, he does," Sally said, backing me up. "If you ever pay attention, you'd see that."

Franklin glared at me. "You should read a book about edicate, then, you're such a bookworm anyway. You should learn that it's not polite to hold someone else's girlfriend's hand."

I felt really scared at this moment. I always tried to keep away from fights, especially with people as big as Franklin. I also knew that even if he let me off easy, he would never talk to me again. The band would probably fall apart. I suddenly felt horrible for doing this to the band, Franklin, and Sally.

Sally. She would probably get a scolding at the least once they were both alone. I tightened my grip on her hand. No matter what happened, I wouldn't let her go back to Franklin, even if he used force. I couldn't let that happen to someone who I loved so much.

"Come on, Sally, let's go then," Franklin said, taking a hold on her arm, right above the elbow. She flinched, but started to let go of my hand.

"No," I said impulsively.

"What?" Franklin asked, his voice becoming even more menacing.

"She'll stay with me. She has every right."

Sally looked at us both. She looked so frightened, probably hoping that we wouldn't fight. That was the reason why she was giving in to Franklin; she didn't want me to get hurt.

Franklin leaned in, so our faces were only a few inches apart.

"She's coming with me," he demanded, almost like he was a general giving an order to a measly soldier.

We glared at each other, and I was sure that my message was getting across: _I'm not letting go_.

"Please," Sally blurted out, although I'm not sure who she was speaking to.

"I know what you're going to do," I said to him. "You've done it before, haven't you?"

He looked surprised at my statement, but held his ground. "I don't know what you're talking about."

I was about to tell him, but something ran into the three of us, knocking us all to the ground, me under Franklin, Sally sprawled out next to us, and someone scrambling to get up on top of Franklin. I felt like I was about to explode, there was so much weight on me, and I couldn't breathe.

"I'm so sorry," said the person who knocked us over, once he got to his feet. I could tell because a lot of the weight had been taken off of my chest.

He helped Sally up, then Franklin, and I was finally able to see who this klutz was.

_Schroeder._

"I really am sorry," he said. "I was just in such a hurry that I couldn't see where I was going... Have I interrupted something?"

Franklin was steaming, but he answered, "We were just having a little chat." He forced on a smile.

"Oh... Ok. I've got to go... so, y'know," he looked at us all apologetically. He turned and started to run off again.

"Where are you going?" I called after him.

"I need to tell Lucy something!"

And he was gone.

Franklin had already started to pull Sally away.

"I'm not through with you yet, Pelt!" he called, pushing Sally roughly into his black sedan.

He drove wrecklessly away, and I could just imagine that he was yelling at Sally.

I sat down on the curb, face in hands. What had I done? I seem to just ruin everything, and Sally surely won't want to see me again.

Against my will, I started to cry. Ironically, the sky opened up and fat raindrops fell down all around me.

I heard my phone ring, but I ignored it.

I just wanted to be alone.


	14. Sally Brown 3

**Ugh. I'm sorry this has taken me so long to update, but I've been out on vacation, so I couldn't write. :/**

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><p><strong><em>Sally Brown<em>**

My whole life seemed to blow up in my face that one moment when Franklin had found me with Linus. Funny how that can happen.

Just one second, something happens, and it changes the whole course of your life.

It seems a bit strange, really. There are billions of moments in a lifetime, and we don't really appreciate _any _of them.

It's like ice cream. You like ice cream because it's something new, a treat, and you can only eat it now and then. But if you ate ice cream for every meal, you would soon grow tired of it, and it wouldn't be as special as it was before. It would be... _average. _That's the thing with moments. There are so many that they start to become average, so average that you totally ignore them.

But noticing moments won't make anything better. In fact, it might make things even worse.

Franklin and I were currently sitting in his car. He was yelling at me about something, probably Linus, and for once I wasn't listening to him. I was more wrapped up with moments to even concentrate or care about what he was yelling about.

In fact, the only other thing on my mind was his driving. I watched him drive half-hazardly down the street, and worried that we'd get into an accident. The only thing that comforted me was the seat, which I gripped tightly, as if it would save me if we actually did get in a car crash.

As I feared for my life, my thoughts turned from moments and to what had happened less than a minute ago. What had Linus meant when he had said, 'I know what you're going to do'? It sounded as if he was implying that Franklin would physically punish me. But I knew Franklin wasn't going to do anything other than yell at me.

And then he said that Franklin might have done it before. But he had never done such a thing, at least to me.

I froze. Was there something that Linus knew about Franklin that I never learned? They were friends, or at least had been friends, and so Franklin might have told him something about it.

My stomach squirmed, and this time it wasn't because of Franklin's driving. It was because of there was something important that I did not know about.

Franklin finally stopped the car in a pizza place parking lot, which ironically was the same place Linus and I ate at this morning.

I noticed that Franklin had been quiet for a while now, and also took note of the heavy raindrops falling on the windshield.

Franklin turned to me and took a deep breath, trying to make his anger go away. It seemed to work a little bit. He closed his eyes and stated calmly, "I don't want you to talk to him anymore."

"Linus?" I asked, although I already knew it was him. Franklin nodded, his eyes still closed.

I couldn't quite believe it. First he was telling me what kind of college I should go to, now he's picking out who I can and can't talk to. And Linus, too, one of my life-long friends. It was ridiculous and I was sick of it.

"No," I said, folding my arms. "I still want to talk to him. He's one of my best friends."

Franklin opened his eyes and glared at me. "I don't want you talking to him," he repeated, as if saying it again would change my mind.

I suddenly wondered why I was still with him. I wondered why I was in this car and having a silly fight when I could be out in the pouring rain with Linus, laughing my head off over something he did. Was it because of Franklin's chocolate brown eyes that seemed to make me melt every time I saw them? They didn't have the same effect on me anymore once I started thinking about Linus' eyes, which were a much darker brown and seemed to take in every detail. Was it because of his deep voice, or dark skin, or curly hair? Everything that I liked about Franklin I could find something better about Linus.

"Sally..." Franklin growled. I had stayed silent for too long, wrapped up in my own thoughts.

"I don't love you anymore," I blurted. Why did I keep doing that? Maybe I should just tape my mouth shut.

He raised an eyebrow. "What did you say?"

He looked truly menacing, and I repeated what I said a lot more quietly, afraid of how he was going to react.

But right before he spoke again, there was a knock on the car door. Both of us temporarily distracted, trying to figure out who was outside in this kind of weather. Franklin opened the door, and I immediately heard the pouring rain, and saw, to my amazement, Snoopy, drenched and wearing a Sherlock Holmes outfit, looking so proud that he finally found what he was looking for, which was apparently me.

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><p><strong>Hope that makes up for the long wait. I'm pretty sure I'll get the next chap up sooner, too. Hope you liked it!<strong>

**And also, I know I'm making Franklin out to be a bad person, and I'm sorry. I've never been a big Franklin fan. :/**


	15. Snoopy

**Now for a chapter in Snoopy's POV! Requested by anonymous :)**

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><p><strong><em>Snoopy<em>**

I was Snoopy Doghouse, the Great Mutt Detective. A customer came to me in the morning, asking me to find his lost sister. Naturally, I refused such a dull case, but he offered me a bag of milk bones, so I changed my mind. Who could turn down milk bones?

My faithful assistant, Woodstock, was not able to accompany me, so I set off to find the strayed sibling on my own.

I searched in alleyways, bounded over rooftops, and lurked around corners, finding clues as to where the client's sister was. In the pouring rain I finally found a black car in the parking lot of a pizza place. I saw the person of interest in the car, yelling something to a rather large male. Being the excellent detective that I am, I've studied how to read lips, and knew exactly what she said; _I don't love you anymore._

Hmm. How fascinating.

I decided to end this rubbish on who's loving who and whatnot, so I knocked on the door of the car. The male person opened it, and they both looked genuinely surprised to see me. Or, perhaps, they were astounded by my presence.

I motioned for the person of interest to come with me, and she followed me almost immediately.

"Snoopy!" she said with a sigh of relief. "You don't know how good it is to see you."

I waved her off, not wanting to be bothered with trifles like _thank you. _I just wanted my milk bones.

I made her follow me all the way home, and when we walked through the door (she the human door and I the doggie door), there my client awaited us, my payment in hand.

"Good dog," he said, patting my head and handing me the milk bones. "You," he turned to his sister, "are in deep trouble. At least, you were, until I covered for you."

Sally shrugged.

"A simple thank you would suffice," my client grunted angrily to the receding figure of his sister as she ran up the stairs.

I left the house as my client yelled angrily up the stairs. He was actually quite frightening. I headed towards my old doghouse with chipped red paint. I threw off my deerstalker and tore open my bag of milkbones.

The moment I had my whole costume off, I was acting like my normal self again.

I pulled out an envelope with an old postcard and a stack of photos that had been sent to me a few months ago. It had been from Woodstock. The truth was, I missed him more than anything. He had been my best friend. We had been through many adventures together... trecking through the woods with his cousins, going to the store, and even just eating from my food bowl.

Woodstock was in France, at the moment, or so he told me. I flipped through the photos and one caught my eye. It was of him flying over the Grand Canyon with one of his cousins. Ed, I believe was his name.

I threw the card and photos aside, knowing that if I looked at them any longer I might start to cry. I looked up at the sky, and I realized that it had stopped raining. Dark clouds still loomed over us, but I could still see a lone star peaking out from behind them.

_Star light, star bright,_

__First star I see tonight.__

_I wish I may, I wish I might,_

_I wish Woodstock was here with me tonight._

I knew wishes on stars never came true, but I hoped this one would.

I felt a raindrop hit my nose.

_It was a dark and stormy night..._

I climbed off of my house, on my way to get my typewriter.

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><p><strong>Who knew it was hard to write in Snoopy's POV? I surely didn't. Please don't be angry with me for making Snoopy sad, I'm doing a good job of beating myself up on my own. And please, review, review, <em>review! :)<em>**


	16. Charlie Brown 3

**Hey there! Hopefully this will be the last chapter updated late. School has started up again, and so I will be less likely to procrastinate. Also, I was in a bit of a slump as to how the plot was going to move along, but now I have that all worked out, so it'll be easier and quicker for me to write.**

**I have another Peanuts fic up called, "It's Time to Pass, Charlie Brown" which you might like (plus it needs a bit of love).**

**Thank you for all the feedback last chapter! It made me feel really happy!**

**Warning: Fluff chapter. Lots and lots of fluff. Don't like it, skip it.**

**This is set the Monday after the little Sally/Franklin/Linus fiasco.**

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><p><strong><em>Charlie Brown<em>  
><strong>

I set my tray down loudly on the cafeteria table, making Linus, Schroeder, and Pig-pen jump in unison. I cringed a bit as my milk spilled out of its carton onto my spaghetti.

"Tough day?" Linus sighed, grabbing a few napkins and helping me clean up the mess.

"More like 'weekend'," I muttered.

"What happened?" Pig-pen asked, not bothering to wipe some ketchup that had smeared onto his face.

"Sally went missing for about twelve hours," I said. Linus stiffened for a second, but continued to clean up the mess. I gave him a quizzical look. "What's wrong?"

"Um...Nothing. Please continue," he said, avoiding my eye.

"...So I had to get Snoopy to go and find her, while I had to make up a few lies for my parents as to where Sally was," I said, turning back to Schroeder and Pig-pen.

"Brutal," Pig-pen said, devouring whatever was on his plate (which strangely looked like a mix between carrots, potatoes, and honey mustard).

"When she finally came back, she totally ignored me and refused to tell me where she was and why she had been gone so long. Snoopy was no help, he just left with the milkbones I gave him. He really hasn't been the same since Woodstock left."

"Well, I saw Linus and-" Schroeder started, but faltered when he saw Linus glaring at him.

"-Franklin the other day. I quite literally ran into them," he continued.

Linus murmured something to him which sounded strangely like 'nice save'.

"Hey Chuck," Patty said, sliding gracefully in-between Linus and I, placing her tray next to mine, distracting me from Schroeder and Linus. She gave me a light peck on the cheek that made my skin tingle.

My mind was completely void of all thoughts of annoying siblings, frustratingly depressed pets, and mysterious friends as I greeted her.

"Have you heard?" she asked conversationally as she dug into her lunch.

"Heard what?"

"About the theme for the prom!" Patty said, as if this were the most obvious thing in the world.

"I didn't even know this school hosted a prom," I said blankly.

Patty gave me an exasperated look and muttered, "_Boys_. Of course this school hosts a prom! What school in America doesn't? Anyway, the theme for this year is opposites, so I was thinking we could do something like salt and pepper, or maybe-"

"You two would be perfect doing a baseball bat and ball," Linus said. I had nearly forgotten he was still there.

Patty considered this for a moment, then turned around and gave Linus a huge hug, making us both jump. "Linus, you are absolutely amazing! That is a great suggestion."

She hopped out her seat and left the cafeteria in a hurry, leaving behind her barely touched lunch.

"Is it just me," Linus said, looking after her, "or is Patty really different now?"

"Different how?" I asked.

"Well, y'know... last year she wouldn't have given the prom a thought until the last minute, and wouldn't have even cared about the theme at all. She also most definitely wouldn't be leaving her lunch without licking it clean first. Something about her has changed." He glanced over to me to see my reaction at his statement. I must have looked as sick as I felt, for he quickly added, "But it's probably just my imagination."

But it wasn't just his imagination. He was completely right. Patty was not Peppermint Patty anymore. Peppermint Patty would have loved getting her new jeans grass stains and walking in the rain. Patty liked to read Vogue and wear make-up daily to school.

I liked Patty, but I don't think I would ever be able to fall in love with her. No, my heart wouldn't be able to love anyone but Peppermint Patty. And although they were the same person, they really weren't.

"I have to go," I said, suddenly feeling sick to my stomach.

I dumped my tray, feeling very, _very _despondent. Who knew a girlfriend could make you feel so happy-yet unhappy-at the same time?

Once I exited the cafeteria, I bumped into (quite literally bumped into- her books fell all over the place and I nearly got a concussion from my head hitting the tiled floor) the one person I really didn't want to see; Patty.

"Chuck," she sighed, gathering up her books and helping me back up. "What's up with you today?"

I knew it would not be a pretty sight if I lied to her, for I had a deep feeling in my gut that she would somehow figure it out, so I did what I do best... I prattled on without making any sense whatsoever.

"I, uh... well, you see, I just realized... you know, and I had to go... and I wasn't watching where I was going, you understand-"

"Chuck," Patty interrupted. "Could you complete your sentences, please?"

I looked at her. _Really_ looked. I looked at her painted red mouth, I studied her blush-covered cheeks, I observed her disgustingly artificial eyelashes, and I knew deep within that I didn't like it. I knew I had to tell her, no matter what the consequence, because I knew I could live no longer with this lie shielding the beautiful girl who I loved and adored named Peppermint Patty. So I told her, straight out.

"You don't need to be like this anymore."

She stared at me, completely taken aback and confused. "What?"

"You don't need to cover yourself up anymore, Patty- No, let me finish. You aren't you, you are this fake girl who pretends she likes to get updates about the prom and paint her nails when really you love to get down and dirty and pretend you're one of the guys. I don't want the fake you, Patty, I want the real you. So please stop it, stop this. I love you for you and no one else, and you don't have to change yourself to make me love you anymore. Because you're perfect, Patty, and no one could ever love anyone else more than I love you."

And then I did the unthinkable.

Well, not entirely unthinkable. It happens in the movies all the time, but I would never had imagined it would happen in real life.

I kissed her.

More like made-out.

She really didn't see it coming. She was still getting over the shock of me proclaiming my unrequited love for her, which even I didn't plan. It just sort of came out. For once my foot-in-the-mouth disease was a blessing.

But anyway, back to the kiss.

It was totally against school rules (you couldn't even hold hands here at Schultz High), but who really cares about rules anyway, with the exception of Marci. It was my first make-out session ever, so I was a bit clueless on what to do, so I took a leaf out of Hollywood's book for the second time that day and pushed Patty up against the wall, kissing her neck furiously. She just went along with it, placing a few kisses on my face every time she could.

Exactly 34 seconds later, a teacher caught us and we had to break apart and not 'man-handle' each other at school ever again, as the teacher so elegantly put it. But once she had disappeared around the corner, Patty pulled me back into a sweet lingering kiss that tasted exactly like peppermints.

She had stars in her eyes, I saw, as we pulled away from each other when the bell rudely interrupted us. "Charlie Brown," she said, which was the first time I can ever remember her using my real name. "You are wonderful."

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><p>"What's up with the lipstick? Going drag to math class?" Linus asked once I caught up to him.<p>

I ignored him and didn't even bother wiping the remnants of Patty and I's kiss away as I stepped into my next class.

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><p><strong><strong>Yay, another CBPP kiss! :D How do you feel about that?****

****I promise that I will have the next chapter up by October 6, and if I don't, you have full rights to send angry messages into my inbox. Please remember to review. Constructive criticism is always welcome!****


	17. Lucy Van Pelt 2

**Sorry for the lateness :/ But hopefully this chap will make up for it, especially for all of you Lucy/Schroeder fans *wink wink***

**Kind of.**

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><p><em>Lucy Van Pelt<em>

"Lucy?"

I didn't turn at the voice. I was too busy discussing pedicures with Frieda and Vi to really even hear the timid squeak from behind me. The person cleared their throat and repeated my name, a bit more louder and with a sort of underlying sense of demand. I stopped mid-sentence, brought my eyes to the ceiling, and whirled around to my interrupter with a frustrated huff.

I nearly fell over with shock.

"Sch-Schroeder?" I gasped, pinching myself to make sure that I wasn't dreaming, and in that case to punish myself for being so lame-sounding. _Come on, ol' gal, you have talked to enough boys (and had done much more than that) to make it hard to even think of stuttering in front of _him_._

But even my conscience can be wrong sometimes.

"Could we talk...alone?" he asked nervously, eyes warliy hovering over Frieda and Vi.

"Yeah, of course. I'll see you at Cheer," I said, waving them off.

"I erm, I tried to talk to you on the weekend, but couldn't find you..." He started.

I was... Busy," I said, a blush creeping up my face. The truth was, I was embarrassed that I went to go get high every weekend. I would stop, but I was just so hooked that I couldn't. My parents didn't know, so I couldn't get into any therapy, but even if they did find out, I would be grounded for life. So what could I do?

"That doesn't matter, though," Schroeder said, blushing too. Wait, why was he blushing? Was he nervous to talk to me? Does he... _like_ me? My heart started fluttering like a butterfly with hope.

"I came to ask was, I mean, do you, want to, er.." He started staring off into space. Oh crap. Was he second-guessing what he was going to ask me? Nonononononono. I would not let that happen.

"You wanted to ask me what?" I asked, egging him on.

He took a deep breath and looked me in the eye. "I was wondering if you're going to the prom."

"If someone asks me." _If he doesn't get the clue, he's probably too stupid for me to date anyway. _

_You didn't mean that, did you? _

_I didn't think so._

He brightened. "So you're not taken?"

"Does it look like I'm taken?" I asked a little to angrily.

"Um..."

"Please don't answer that," I begged, my face getting hotter by the second. "So, I'm not taken. Are you?"

_Do I _have_ to control this whole conversation?_

"No."

I took a deep breath, a bit annoyed. _Guess I'll have to ask him._

"Do you want to go to prom with me?"

"I thought the guys had to ask that," Schroeder said, his brow furrowing. Sure, he was smart, but the kid sometimes had enough brains to lose at Jeapordy against a rock.

"Some traditions can be broken."

"Oh! In that case, yeah, I'd like to go to prom with you." He looked immensely relieved that he wasn't the one who had to ask.

"Good. I mean, cool. What do you want to go as? The theme is opposites, right?"

"What about Beethoven and Bach?"

"How are those two opposites?" They were both composers, if my memory of history class served me right.

"Well, Beethoven's great, and Bach sucks."

"Let's sleep on it," I said, trying to spare his feelings, because that was a kinder response than 'your _idea_ sucks'.

"Alright," He looked slightly put down, probably because he figured out that I didn't really care for his idea.

"I've got to go," I said. "I've got cheer in a little while. But let's talk over this at lunch. That okay?"

"Fine," he smiled.

"How about Saturday, twelve o'clock, at Joe's?"

"I don't really care for meat..." _Dear God, please don't tell me he's a vegetarian._

"Dessert Palace, then?"

"It's a date!" he said joyously as he walked away. My insides wormed around themselves when he said 'date.'

"See you!" I called after him, even though I'm sure he didn't hear me.

I danced all the way to cheerleading practice.

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><p><strong>Heh. This is the first time I've had a conversation going throught the<em> entire <em>chapter. I kind of like it. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this new developement between Schroeder and Lucy! Do you like it? Do you not? Are you a vegetarian? Do you want Dessert Palace to be a real place (I sure do!)? Tell me in a review! (those were random questions by the way, you don't have to answer them)**


	18. Sally Brown 4

**To answer HelloILikeIt's question: Patty and Peppermint Patty are two completely different people. Patty, who appeared in the earlier strips, was very girly and was usually known to be friends with Violet, Shermy, and Charlie Brown, and her favourite pastime was making mudpies. She was about two years older than Charlie. Peppermint Patty arrived much later on in the strips, way after Patty disappeared, and she is about the same age as Charlie. She is more of a hippie, and her best friend was Marcie. She is a big fan of baseball.**

**So to clear up your confusion, Peppermint Patty and Patty are two different characters with entirely no relation except for their name.**

**Also, I was going to write a Christmas chapter, but when I wrote it I didn't really like it, so I decided to delete it. I'm sorry. That's why this chap had such a long wait :/**

**Thanks to you all for the 10,000 views!**

**Now for the story.**

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><p><em>Sally Brown<em>

"Are you alright?"

It was Linus. I could recognize his voice any day.

I didn't want to answer him. In all truth, I wanted him to go. It wasn't anything personal; if it had been anybody else, I would have wished the same thing. Deep down inside, I wanted him to hold me in his arms, let me cry into his shoulder, and be silent. I didn't want someone to talk to. I wanted a human teddy bear.

"Yeah," I said quietly, carefully trying to hide my nasally voice.

He wasn't fooled.

"I'm...I'm sorry."

My soul cried out to him. It wanted to tear itself out of my body and melt into his. I tried to ignore its whining, but it was easier said than done.

"It's not your fault. It's Franklin."

"Did he-did he hurt you?" His voice was choked, tightened around itself like a tie, squeezing his throat until it came out like a hoarse plead.

I shook my head, not trusting myself to speak. It still stunned me that he knew about Franklin's violent nature.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. A soft, warm hand, gently holding my shuddering frame. His thumb rubbed smoothly back and forth, comforting me a little. I realized, in that moment, that what I really needed was human contact. I had been deprived of it with Franklin; yes, he had kissed me, he had held me, he had done a great many other things to me as well, but it wasn't human. It was alien, like Franklin was a martian that had come down to Earth. He only cared about how he felt, leaving out the passion and love. He was stone.

Linus sat down beside me on the cold marble steps outside the city library. It was a very remote place, having been built in the least accessible part of town. I liked going there whenever I felt down because it was a comfortable place to cry, knowing that no one would find me. I guess Linus knew me more than I thought; only someone who knew me well would be able to find me when I didn't want to be found. It didn't really surprise me, though.

The only question was _why_ I was crying. It was hard to know for sure. Was it because of Franklin? If it was, what for? Regret, because I still had feelings for him? Relief, because he didn't hurt me? Happiness, because I was finally free from his tight grip?

Or maybe, it was Linus. Was I angry that he had provoked me to cheat on Franklin? Was I embarrassed that he knew about Franklin's abusive ways? Was I worried that Franklin might beat his brains out in the near future?

Or was it me? Was I frustrated with myself for going out with Franklin in the first place? That I was blaming Linus for provoking me to cheat? That I was such a whiny, gullible, drama queen?

"Hey," Linus whispered in my ear. His warm breath made even my toes tingle. "It's all okay."

I swallowed down a sob as a tear spilled down onto my cheek. Linus pulled me into a tight embrace, saying again, "It's all okay."

I tried not to get his shoulder too wet. That would have been embarrassing. But I did let a few tears fall. After a while, I felt good enough to pull back and look him in the eye. His melting, quickened-heart-beat-inducing, chocolate eyes. He stared back into my eyes.

"Why?" I asked.

"Why what?"

"Why do you put up with me?"

His lips curled up into one of his joking smirks. "Because I'm hopelessly in love." He leaned in and kissed me. It was salty, complementary by my stupid tears, but I liked it all the same. Instead of making the tears stop, which I'm sure was his intent, it made them flow more freely. But this time, they were tears of joy.

We stayed on that step until the sun left the sky.

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><p><strong>Sorry for the shortness. Please review!<strong>


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